Rising Bird Fellows Commitments and Policies
Rising Bird Fellows is committed to supporting you throughout your internship experience. Explore how Rising Bird Fellows supplements your career development and the major policies of the program.
Career Development Support
In addition to providing financial support for students participating in unpaid internships, the Rising Bird Fellows program ensures that Fellows receive structured career development support before, during, and after their internship.
Rising Bird Fellows supplements the experiential learning Fellows gain through their internship by integrating guided reflection, cohort-based peer learning, professional development resources, and competency-based assessment. This framework helps students to:
- feel confident and prepared to begin their internship
- set and achieve learning goals during their internship
- develop and improve career readiness competencies
- reflect on and articulate the value of their internship experience
- build professional networks
- transition their internship experiences into future opportunities
If a student receives a Rising Bird Fellows stipend they will be required to agree to and meet commitments to their opportunity and to Rising Bird Fellows as outlined in their stipend offer letter.
By accepting a Rising Bird Fellows stipend, students commit to participating fully in their internship and the Rising Bird Fellows program. This includes:
- completing the work hours for the student’s unpaid internship and meeting the expectations outlined by their supervisor or employer, including professional conduct and completion of set deliverables
- engaging with their Rising Bird Fellows cohort and participating in career development opportunities
Students traveling internationally will also be required to complete the International Academy Canvas course.
Stipends
Rising Bird Fellows stipends are calculated based upon the student time commitment to their opportunity during the quarter for which they are applying, with a maximum value of $7,500 during Summer Quarter and up to $2,815 for Winter and Spring Quarter.
Stipend amounts during Winter and Spring Quarter range from $282 to $2,815 based upon the number of hours per week and total weeks the student will participate in their opportunity.
Stipend amounts during the summer range from $750 to $7,500 based upon the number of hours per week and total weeks the student will participate in their opportunity.
- Students whose opportunities last at least 5 weeks and take place in the highest cost-of-living cities during Summer Quarter may also be eligible for an additional stipend of up to $1000.
Rising Bird Fellows recommends that students work no more than 15 hours per week during the academic year and 40 hours per week during the Summer. Although students may work in excess of these recommendations, Rising Bird Fellows has the following limits on funding:
- Winter and Spring Quarter: Rising Bird Fellows will only provide funding for between 5 and 15 hours of work per week during the ten-week academic quarter. This 15-hour maximum complies with the recommendations in the Stanford Administrative Guide.
- Stipends are not provided for opportunities in which the student works fewer than 5 hours per week or for opportunities that last less than 3 weeks.
- Hours dedicated to the opportunity before or after the academic quarter are not considered during stipend calculations.
- Stipends, prizes, or awards offered to students who are receiving other forms of financial aid for any purpose are a form of financial assistance and may require adjustment to scholarship eligibility, and/or adjustment to the student’s overall cost of attendance. Rising Bird Fellows stipends can only be offered to financial aid recipients during Winter and Spring Quarter if they have Student Responsibility remaining. (Learn more about the Stanford Student Stipend Policy.)
- If an applicant’s remaining Student Responsibility is less than the value of the stipend the student could receive through Rising Bird Fellows, the stipend will be reduced to the value of the student’s remaining Student Responsibility
- A student can check their most recent Financial Aid Notification in Axess to confirm their eligibility prior to applying.
- Students can receive a maximum total of $10,000 of funding from Stanford Career Education during their time as a Stanford student
- Previous Fellows who have not met their commitments to the program will not be considered for future stipends for at least one full year
- Students cannot receive any funding regardless of source for the same internship for which they are receiving a stipend
Rising Bird Fellows are expected to inform the Rising Bird Fellows team of any changes in the status of their opportunity. These include major changes to the student’s responsibilities, a new supervisor, or a reduction or increase in hours. Although most changes in a student’s internship do not require additional action, Rising Bird Fellows will provide instruction on any necessary steps a student would need to take in response to changes. Significant changes to a student’s opportunity may result in their stipend being reduced or rescinded.
Students receiving a stipend must receive written permission from Rising Bird Fellows staff before accepting any additional funding for their opportunity from Stanford, their employer, or any other source.
Rising Bird Fellows stipends cannot be applied to a different opportunity than the one listed on the student’s application. A Rising Bird Fellows stipend is contingent on the eligibility of the opportunity and the student’s supervisor, and the supervisor agrees to the requirements of their participation when submitting the Employer Agreement.
Additional Rising Bird Fellows Policies
This section highlights policies that may limit or impact a student’s decision to accept a Rising Bird Fellows stipend. The full Rising Bird Fellows program policies can be found by following the link below:
A goal of the Rising Bird Fellows program is to help students explore career opportunities outside of the Stanford environment and begin to gain experience and skills while they build their professional network. To support these goals of the Rising Bird Fellows program, Rising Bird Fellows should not work more than 50 total hours per week across all of their commitments during Summer Quarter.
Rising Bird Fellows are not permitted to engage in another full-time internship, job, or volunteer opportunity (whether funded by Stanford or otherwise) during the weeks of their Rising Bird Fellows opportunity. Rising Bird Fellows defines “full-time” as 30 hours per week. Examples of full-time opportunities include full-time paid positions, other Stanford fellowships and Stanford-sponsored internships, departmental or faculty grant-support research positions, Beagle II, and the Chappell Lougee Scholarship. Students are expected to withdraw their Rising Bird Fellows application or decline a Rising Bird Fellows stipend offer if they accept funding from another source.
Students may not participate in Rising Bird Fellows during Winter or Spring Quarter if they are participating in an additional full-time opportunity.
Students may work at an additional part-time internship, job, or volunteer position, provided that it does not conflict with or prevent them from completing their Rising Bird Fellows opportunity or their Stanford courses, and that they do not exceed 50 total hours across all experiential learning opportunities during Summer Quarter. A student working a part-time position at Stanford must notify the Rising Bird Fellows team before accepting a Rising Bird Fellows stipend or prior to accepting the part-time position at Stanford if they have already accepted a Rising Bird Fellows stipend.
CareerEd reserves the right to rescind funding and refuse future access to funding should they become aware of any policy violations, including unwillingness to participate in their cohort and failure to complete the opportunity as outlined in their Rising Bird Fellows application.
Students who have previously participated in Rising Bird Fellows who have not met their commitments to the program or who have violated program policies will not be considered for future stipends for at least 4 full quarters following their internship.
